MNB PHPExcelDeveloper Guide
v2.0.5
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XLS module

Writing Native XLS Files

Generate BIFF8 workbooks natively with multiple sheets, Unicode strings, typed cells, formulas, merges, dimensions, and frozen panes.

Updated

LevelIntermediateReading time11 minPackagemnb/mnb-phpexcel
Xls::write()XlsWriter::write()CellValue::formula()

What you will learn

  • Write data-oriented Excel 97–2003 workbooks without external libraries.
  • Provide typed dates, numbers, errors, and cached formula values.
  • Fail explicitly when an unsupported presentation feature is required.

Write associative rows#

PHP
use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xls;

Xls::write([
    ['Name' => 'Alice', 'Amount' => 1250.50, 'Approved' => true],
    ['Name' => 'Bob', 'Amount' => 875.00, 'Approved' => false],
], 'report.xls', [
    'with_header' => true,
    'sheet_name' => 'Data',
]);

Write typed values and formulas#

PHP
use Mnb\PHPExcel\Core\CellValue;
use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xls;

Xls::write([
    ['Date', 'Amount', 'Double'],
    [
        CellValue::date('2026-07-29'),
        CellValue::number('1250.50'),
        CellValue::formula('B2*2', 2501.00),
    ],
], 'typed.xls');

Supported writer structure#

  • Multiple worksheets and Unicode shared strings with CONTINUE splitting.
  • Numbers, strings, Booleans, blanks, errors, dates, and date-times.
  • Common formulas encoded as BIFF8 RPN tokens with cached results.
  • Merged cells, row heights, column widths, and frozen rows or columns.
  • Atomic output replacement and BIFF8 worksheet limits of 65,536 rows and 256 columns.

Require strict feature handling#

PHP
Xls::write($workbook, 'report.xls', [
    'strict_features' => true,
]);

With strict mode enabled, unsupported workbook presentation features raise UnsupportedXlsFeatureException instead of being skipped.